Prosodic strengthening on consonantal nasality and its asymmetric coarticulatory influence on vowel nasalization in CVN# and #NVC in English

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between prosodic strengthening and linguistic contrasts in English by examining temporal realization of nasals in CVN# and #NVC, and their coarticulatory influence on vowels. Results show that different sources of prosodic strengthening bring about different types of linguistic contrasts. Prominence increased N-duration ([nasality]) but the vowel’s [orality] (rather than [nasality] due to coarticulation) even when the nasal was phonologically focused (e.g., mob-bob; bomb-bob). Boundary strength reduced the nasal’s [nasality] in domain-initial position (enhancing its [consonantality]), while the opposite was true with the domain-final nasal. In dynamical terms, these results may be seen as coming from differential intergestural coupling relationships that may underlie the difference in Vnasalization in CVN# vs. #NVC. It is proposed that the timing initially determined by such relationships must be modulated by prosodic strengthening in a way that reflects the relationship between dynamical underpinnings of speech timing and linguistic contrasts.